PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
July 26, 2012
Editorial
Few things are worse than a watchman who doesn’t watch. That’s why Monsignor William J. Lynn of Philadelphia was sentenced Tuesday to 3 to 6 years in prison.
He failed to watch over the safety of the children of his Catholic archdiocese for the dozen years he was secretary for clergy to Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua. It was Lynn’s job to make parish assignments and to investigate sex abuse claims against priests.
Last month, Lynn, 61, was found guilty of turning a blind eye to the predations of Edward Avery, a former parish priest who pleaded guilty to charges of sexually assaulting an altar boy in 1999. Lynn was told by a medical student in 1992 that Avery had molested him in the 1970s.
Lynn removed Avery from his parish and ordered him hospitalized for evaluation. But instead of then turning Avery over to Philadelphia police, Lynn let him to return to ministry in a limited capacity. Avery was reassigned to a parish that knew nothing of his history and no report was made to civil authorities.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.